If a patient is not in pain, we recommend a comprehensive or complete and thorough examination in our office on the initial visit. What does this entail? The first thing we do is sit down and take a complete medical history looking at any disease states and/or medicines that could affect or be affected by dental treatment. Next, we take vitals in the room, paying particular attention to blood pressure and pulse rate. There are certain anesthetics we use that can accentuate high blood pressure or certain medications in a dangerous way. We want to make certain we do no harm when we perform any dental treatment.
Once we start our dental examination, we chart all existing/missing teeth on our computer followed by existing restorations or any clinical problems we can visualize. We check the way the teeth meet, which we call this occlusion. We take intra oral and extra oral photographs and store them in the patient’s computer file as well. After this we do a full series of X-rays, not only to determine if there are any cavities, but to look for signs of hidden infections, periodontal/gum disease as well as if anything is wrong with the roots of the patient’s teeth. Sometimes we can see extra or supernumerary teeth below the gums and sometimes we can see teeth that are blocked (impacted) from coming into one’s mouth. We may also see missing permanent teeth on youngsters so we can then develop a plan on how to deal with it long term. We also check for any signs of bone abnormalities such as cancer both on the physical examination as well as the radiographic one.
After all this data is obtained and reviewed, we then will schedule the patient for a diagnosis visit to go over our findings and make recommendations on any treatment if needed. We will compare our notes, photos, radiographic analysis and give the best advice we can. We will explain and answer any questions that the patient has aduring this visit before doing any dental treatment so that the patient understands and is fully informed.
